Women and teenage girls in Kushma, the headquarters of Parbat district, and Huwas, Khanigaun, Kyang VDCs have received training from Japanese volunteer Yuki Yuki Yamamoto to make sanitary pads at their homes.

Yamamoto said she has trained around 700 women and teenage girls to make sanitary pads out of falalin cloth.

“When I worked as a volunteer of Women and Children Office in Parbat two years ago, I saw many girls facing problems during their period. So I decided to organise a training to teach them how to make sanitary pads using homemade materials,” she said.

A metre of falalin cloth can make 10 sanitary pads, which are reusable and can last up to two year.

“Inside the falalin cloth we use old clothes which can be replaced after each use. That way the pad can be reused” she said. A survey conducted by Yamamoto has found that only around 20,000 women in the district use sanitary pads during menstruation.

Nineteen-year-old Devi Pun of Kyang-9 said sanitary pads were not easily available in her village.

“Before learning how to prepare a homemade sanitary pad, it was difficult for me to go to college during menstruation. Now I have no such problem,” she said. 

School students, representatives of local mothers’ group and other clubs are receiving training from Yamamoto these days.

Sixteen-year-old Susmita Chapagain said she was now able to make a sanitary pad for herself for little or no cost.

“If we were to buy a year’s supply of sanitary pads, it would cost at least Rs 1,000,” she added. “I used to skip school during my period in the past. These days I go to school regularly.”

Yamamoto’s campaign has also inspired the District Development Committee and some local NGOs to organise similar training in other parts of Parbat.